It was a small, very brief moment, but these small, very brief moments make the difference in the slalom. German alpine skier Lena Dürr glided her skis at high speed as the slope turned into a steep slope. And it almost happened to her. The high speed led to the 33-year-old turning around several slalom poles in extreme distress, carving close to collapse, like a hard drinker of Finnish Sahti beer after a fresh air wade. Dürr staggered, but she held her ground, fought her way back into the ruts and almost broke the fastest time shortly before the finish.
Dürr’s aggressive choice of line in the transition from the flat section to the steep section probably cost her second place in the slalom in Levi, Finland; After two runs, she was four hundredths of a second behind the Austrian Katharina Liensberger. After her skiing mistake at the core of this slalom slope, she saved third place and 60 World Cup points at the finish and left evidence that, even at an advanced age as a skier, she is once again in remarkable early form.
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“It wasn’t easy conditions in Levi today,” said Dürr after her second ride on Saturday: “A super start with the podium, so I’m very, very happy.” The so-called “Levi Black” piste, 170 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, She obviously suits her particularly well. The Munich native reached the podium here for the fifth time in the last seven races and was never worse than fourth during this period. There’s only one thing she’s never managed in Levi: being at the top.
Since 2021, the woman from SC Germering has been one of the world’s best slalom skiers. During this time she finished in the top three in the World Cup 13 times, as well as numerous top ten placements. However, Dürr has only won a slalom race in the World Cup, and it’s probably not just Lena Dürr herself who is responsible for that, but a woman named Mikaela Shiffrin.
Some people ask themselves: Does Mikaela Shiffrin’s victories never stop?
The American once again delivered one of her brilliant performances in Levi on Saturday. First, she showed an almost perfect first run in terms of skiing, gaining six tenths of a second on Dürr, a small slalom world, who was in second place after the first run. And in the final, the 29-year-old delivered a Shiffrin-style finish: Unlike Dürr just before, she took a little speed off her skis before the crest of the steep slope and curved around the following poles in an almost relaxed manner, like a Finn before the next sauna infusion, it looked like pleasure skiing. At the finish, Shiffrin had extended her lead over second place to 79 hundredths of a second. So the next Shiffrin show, also this season: World Cup victory number 98. And quite a few must have asked themselves: Does it never stop?
Only the Slovakian Petra Vlhova has managed to defeat Shiffrin in Levi in recent years, but she will probably be out until the end of December due to a knee injury. Meanwhile, a 21-year-old German racing driver from SC Mahlstetten in Baden-Württemberg has registered among the world’s best: Emma Aicher, who competes in all disciplines, qualified for the second round, unlike the giant slalom in Sölden, this time with a high starting number in 22nd place . And she made a trip there that might even have been heard by Mikalea Shiffrin’s team.
Aicher took 76 hundredths off the American during this ride, which lasted just under a minute, set the fastest time of all 30 qualifiers in the final and finished ninth at the end of the day. Sure: Aicher started the second run in ninth place, Shiffrin in 30th and last place, so he had to deal with a rough track and more difficult conditions. But the best running time remains the best running time.
“I was able to push very well at the top,” said Aicher, “it was really fun.” Dürr almost seemed relieved at her teammate’s result: “That’s good for all of us. We’re already looking forward to the next few weeks because now it’s happening in quick succession.” After the men’s race on Sunday (10 a.m./1 p.m., BR and Eurosport), the slalom specialists continue in Gurgl/Austria. There is also a flat and a steep passage there. Dürr said: “I have the feeling there are still some reserves here and there.”
